My Second Journey to Gujarat

On invitation from the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Maha­pra­bhuji again spent the monsoon months at his palace of Rai-ka-Bagh and I was given the duty to go to Gujarat. At first I stayed in Lathi, in the province of Kathiawar and then was invited to Junagarh by the superintendent of the railway, Sri P. G. Pareek.

Sri Pareek had given me valuable help with the publication of Mahaprabhuji's book, Sri Vigyan Deep Gita, but he had never personally met Gurudeva. As I was preparing to return to Bola Guda Ashram, Sri Pareek expressed the wish to accompany me with his family, so that he could at last greet Gurudeva. One day before our departure he received a call from the railway head office in Bombay, saying that he had to stay because the director general of the railway intended to visit Junagarh. Sri Pareek was very disappointed.

"Again I'm unable to come with you," he said. "It's obvious that still I'm not destined to meet Mahaprabhuji."

"Through the grace of the Master, the impossible can be made possible," I assured him. "I'm sure you'll see Mahaprabhuji."

Sri Pareek fasted the whole day in the name of Gurudeva and during the night continued to pray to Mahaprabhuji. The following morning he received a telephone call from the director general informing him that, due to other urgent matters, he must cancel the visit to Junagarh. Sri Pareek beamed as he passed this message on to me. The same day we departed for Bola Guda, where Mahaprabhuji was staying in the Shivbagh Ashram.

To our great surprise, on reaching the Western Railway Station at Somesar, which is about 12 kilometres from the ashram, we found an oxcart waiting for us!

I questioned the driver as to what had brought him there.

"Mahaprabhuji instructed me to pick you up. He said you would arrive at midday together with a railway officer and his family."

I needn't emphasise how overwhelmed the Pareek family were, not only because Mahaprabhuji had known of their arrival, but also because of his thoughtfulness in sending us a vehicle. Soon we reached the Shivbagh Ashram and went to greet Gurudeva.

For Sri Pareek this visit was fast becoming more valuable than he could ever have anticipated. At the first sight of Mahaprabhuji his soul recognised its Satguru and willingly surrendered to him. He stayed in the ashram for some days and had wonderful conversations with his Master. For Mahaprabhuji it was a great joy to hear the children of the Pareek family sing bhajans, as his love for children was very great.

When the time came for the family to leave, Mahaprabhuji asked, "Is there any wish you have that I could fulfil? You mustn't think a sadhu has nothing to give, for in the Kingdom of Gurudeva, every wish is granted."

Sri Pareek's wife however, had more practical sense and she requested her husband's promotion. Mahaprabhuji granted this to her with a smile.

"May it be so."

A short time after, Gurudeva's blessing was fulfilled and Sri Pareek was promoted to a more important post with headquarters in Bombay. Further honours and higher posts followed and wherever he was stationed during his excellent career, he remained a faithful devotee of Mahaprabhuji.

When Sri Pareek left the world, he died with the name of Mahaprabhuji on his lips.